UNC OVERCOMES SLUGGISH START
North Carolina started its first game of the relocated Maui Invitational so badly that it faced an immediate double-digit hole as its Hall of Fame coach benched multiple starters.
No. 14 North Carolina 78, UNLV 51
The 14th-ranked Tar Heels offered up a confidence-building response to those early troubles.
Freshman RJ Davis scored 16 points to help UNC beat UNLV 78-51 in Monday night’s first round in Ashville, N.C. After falling behind 13-0, the Tar Heels used a big run spanning halftime and a dominating effort on the glass to advance.
“I told them at the first timeout I wasn’t worried about the score,” coach Roy Williams said. “I was just worried about how we were playing.“
Garrison Brooks added 14 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career in the first half for the Tar Heels (2-0), who didn’t score for the first 61⁄ min
2 utes. But UNC closed the gap, then went on a 28-4 run for its own big lead.
The Tar Heels got a big contribution from senior reserve Andrew Platek, who had 11 points and hit a pair of first-half 3-pointers after UNC sputtered out of the tipoff.
“I think we were worried for a second,” Platek said of the players’ reaction to the early deficit. “But then we just knew if we played our principles and played our game plan, we were going to be fine.”
Bryce Hamilton scored 15 points for the Runnin’ Rebels
(0-2), who hit their first five shots. But UNLV made 13 of 57 shots (22.8 percent) while the Tar Heels snagged seemingly every miss to finish with a 54-35 rebounding advantage.
UNLV led 27-22 on Caleb Grill’s 3-pointer with 4:56 left before halftime, but had one basket over the next 91⁄ min
2
utes — including an 0-for-10 start after halftime as the Tar Heels turned a 37-30 lead into a 50-31 margin on Davis’ 3 with 15:29 left.
No. 17 Texas 78, Davidson 76: Courtney Ramey had the go-ahead driving score with 20 seconds to lift Texas (2-0) over Davidson (1-1) in the opening game of the Maui Invitational in Ashville, N.C.
Other games
Minnesota 67, Loyola Marymount 64: Marcus Carr scored 26 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left, and host Minnesota (3-0) beat Loyola Marymount (1-2).
Nevada 70, Pacific 58:
Zane Meeks had 18 points and 11 rebounds off the bench to lead host Nevada (3-0) to a win over Pacific (1-1) in its home opener.
Stanford 82, Alabama 64: Highly touted freshman Ziaire Williams scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds in his collegiate debut and Stanford beat Alabama in the Maui Invitational, relocated to Ashville, N.C.
California 60, Nicholls 49: Matt Bradley tied a career-high with 26 points and Grant Anticevich scored 11 and host California (2-1) beat Nicholls (2-2) in the Bears’ home opener.
Notable
The UCLA men’s basketball home opener was postponed.
The No. 22 Bruins were set to host Long Beach State on Monday night. UCLA spokesman Alex Timiraos says the game is off “out of an abundance of caution” based on COVID-19 protocols in the Long Beach State program.
• D.J. Stewart Jr. scored a career-high 23 points with five 3-pointers and coach Ben Howland secured his 500th career win and Mississippi State (1-2) beat Texas State (2-1) 68-51.
• Pepperdine’s home opener against San Jose State on Wednesday has been canceled because of new COVID-19 policies in Santa Clara County, where San Jose State is located.
• Tonight’s MarylandTowson game has been canceled following a positive test among the Towson support staff.
• The Big 12/Big East Battle between No. 17 Texas Tech and St. John’s on Thursday has been canceled due to concerns over COVID-19.